


The Sins Of The Father

by the_bumbly_bee



Series: Did You Hear About The Skywalkers? [1]
Category: Star Wars, Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Angst, Eventual Happiness, Meta, Sad Anakin, Sad Luke, father/son feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-27
Updated: 2018-03-27
Packaged: 2019-04-13 11:46:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14111664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_bumbly_bee/pseuds/the_bumbly_bee
Summary: It's not a tragedy unless your father's force ghost is finally learning the things he should have in life.





	The Sins Of The Father

**Author's Note:**

> Been messing around with this for a while, pretty short because it's a prologue, but also works as a stand-alone fic if you remove the last line. Enjoy :) 
> 
> Feedback/Kudos is love.

He never says “I” and “am” and “sorry”.

      
           He is – _of course he is how could you think otherwise_ – sorry. But that’s not the _point_ because the _point_ is that he never _says_ it because he _knows._

  
***

                (He knows what he did will never be forgiven.)

  
***

 

"As it shouldn't be", he tells his son one quiet night, somewhere in the forests of Endor.  
                Luke had woken in the early hours before dawn, unable to properly sleep. It seemed that his father's ghost had the same troubles too - he appeared sometime during Luke's fourth walk around the campsite, motioning for him to follow deeper into the wood.   
                They were sitting in contemplative silence, on a bank of soft grass in a nondescript clearing.   
                (The celebrations had ended some nights before, the Ewoks long since returned to the comforts of the forest, taking with them all the energy that was spent singing and hugging and dancing. Most of the Rebels - what was left of them - had either jumped back into hyperspace to touch base or - for those who could - go home.)  
                "I _know,_ father, but-"  
                "No buts."  
                (But Luke, like his sister, like his mother, like his _father_ , is persistent.)  
                "The person who did those things...it was Vader, not you."  
                "I _am_ Vader."  
                "Was."  
                "What?"  
                "You _were_ Vader."  
                "..."  
                "Fath-"  
                "Who am I now then?"  
                "You're Anakin Skywalker."  
                He scoffs. "That boy is dead."  
                "That _man_ is here now."  
                (And Luke, like his sister, like his mother, like his _father,_ is stubborn. Anakin would laugh if the situation weren't so emotionally loaded, but it was, so instead he makes a weak smile.)  
                The first rays of sun are peeking through the horizon when Luke returns to the campsite, shadowed by a soft blue glow. When he looks back one last time he catches a small smile – _sad_ , he thinks – just as it completely disappears.   
                He looks for a long time.

 

***  
                  
                (And he knows what he did will never be forgotten.)

 

***

 

“As it shouldn’t be”, he tells his son one quiet night in the New Temple.   
                They are in the creche – Anakin almost laughs at the situation, but it comes out more strained and self-deprecating and if Luke were being honest it sounded like what a person who just got stabbed in a major artery would sound like, and Luke nearly cries.   
                _(“They failed_ you _, father.”) Your masters,_ Luke doesn't say. _  
(“No, my son. I failed_ myself _.”) Your_ mother _, your_ grandmother _, your aunts, your uncles, your sister - our_ family, Father doesn't say.  
                They are in the creche, sitting cross-legged in a meditative silence that has lasted some time.   
                _Hours,_ Luke thinks.  
                _He never stays for so long._  
                (It is the first of many changes)  
                There are no younglings – and the Temple wouldn’t be officially open for another week or so – but Father tells him that he’s going to meet _so many bright students Luke, they are really going to make a difference I know it_ and he feels a really, really warm sensation wash over him.   
                “Let my story live”, he says softly – so softly Luke has to strain his ears to hear. Father seems to notice, so he raises his voice a little louder – makes it a little stronger.    
                “To remind them.”  
                (The proverbial _them_ meaning the whole galaxy, of course. The New Republic, the New Jedi Order, future Chancellors and Senators and – _soon, Luke_ – Jedi teachers – _teachers first, Luke, ma- leaders second_ – and Jedi Knights, and fathers and mothers and brothers and sisters and _the whole kriffing galaxy._ ) _  
_ "Don't let them forget."   
                Luke thinks _'atonement'_.   
                He makes sure the _whole kriffing galaxy_ would never forget the Tragedy of Anakin Skywalker.  
               

***

                He also knows that _he_ will never be forgotten.  
                _("I will be the terror that children are warned about.")_  
                He also knows that _he_ will never be forgiven.  
                _("Who would?")_  
                That he doesn't deserve it.   
                _("I knew what I was doing. I did what I did.")_  
                And Anakin Skywalker can live – _die_ – live again – with that.   
                He has made his peace.

***  


                (It doesn’t last long.)

 

***

**Author's Note:**

> To be continued! Again, this is a prologue to a bigger work that will basically fix the lack of Leia/Anakin/Vader closure that I really, REALLY needed from canon. Dunno when I'll be posting more, because my exams are right around the corner, but I do have a general outline of what I'm gonna be writing for the Big Story. Stay (loosely) tuned!
> 
> Also, I'd really love to hear your thoughts/feedback! I'll try to respond to all of them :)


End file.
